Trey Anastasio

Since co-founding the seminal improv rock outfit Phish in 1983, guitarist, composer, and songwriter Trey Anastasio has explored a wide variety of musical pathways ranging from atonal fugues and elaborate charts with Phish to adventurous free jazz on his first solo project, Surrender to the Air (1996), to collaborations with the likes of Tom Marshall, Les Claypool, Philip Glass, Stewart Copeland, and others. After Phish went on long-term hiatus in late 2000, Anastasio focused on a myriad of projects, including Oysterhead and his eight-piece solo band.

Born Ernest Joseph Anastasio III in 1964, Anastasio attended Princeton Day School in Princeton, New Jersey, where he met future songwriting partner Tom Marshall. As a teenager, he helped his mother, Dina, write songs for children's records. At the University of Vermont, he teamed up with bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and guitarist Jeff Holdsworth to form Phish. After being suspended from the university for a semester for a prank gone awry, Anastasio transferred to the highly experimental Goddard College outside of Burlington, where he studied intensely with composer Ernie Stires while writing and rehearsing Phish's complicated early material. Soon after, Holdsworth was replaced by keyboardist Page McConnell.

Phish remained Anastasio's primary musical outlet for the duration of the '80s and the '90s, as his original work progressed from lengthy prog-influenced compositions, such as "You Enjoy Myself" of the mid-'80s, to the more focused (though still complex) songs of Rift (1993). While Phish placed more and more emphasis on group improvisation, Anastasio's charts gradually fell by the wayside. In 1996, he organized and produced Surrender to the Air, a big-band free jazz excursion with Sun Ra saxman Marshall Allen, organist John Medeski, avant-garde guitarist Marc Ribot, experimental drummer Bob Gullotti, and many others. Though Anastasio was nominally the leader of the project, he played as an equal member of a large group of downtown heavyweights.

The transformation of Anastasio's work from composition-based to improvisation-based was completed in 1997 and 1998 with The Story of the Ghost and The Siket Disc, two Phish releases chiseled out of hours of collective jamming overseen by producer John Siket. Anastasio's ongoing collaboration with Tom Marshall also resulted in a bevy of new material, far too much for Phish to assimilate into their already gigantic live repertoire. Though Anastasio brought some of the songs to his newly formed side trio, he still felt he was holding back. Phish performed at a massively successful New Year's celebration in Big Cypress, Florida, and in 2000 came the release of Farmhouse (entirely written and produced by Anastasio), but given the band's increasingly unfocused live performances, Phish decided to take a hiatus of an undetermined length beginning in October of that year.

Anastasio went right to work, scoring an arrangement of the Phish song "Guyute" (one of his last multi-sectioned compositions) for the Vermont Youth Orchestra with mentor Ernie Stires. Following its performance, he hit the road with a horn-bolstered version of his side trio and almost a dozen new songs, many of which returned to the complicated work of years past. Soon after, he wrote and recorded an album with Oysterhead, a power trio including Anastasio, Primus bassist Les Claypool, and former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, beginning a new chapter in his musical history. His time spent with Oysterhead was experimental, but not permanent. By early 2002, Anastasio prepped for his proper solo release for Elektra. His groovy cool self-titled album was issued that April and Anastasio returned to the road for a string of U.S. tour dates.

The live effort Plasma appeared in April 2003, showcasing more than two hours of performances from Anastasio's 2002 summer/fall trek of North America. Seven brand-new tracks and a few covers were sprinkled into the double-disc set as well. The all-instrumental Seis de Mayo was released in April 2004, followed by Shine in 2005 and Bar 17 in 2006. The stopgap but quite effective The Horseshoe Curve, comprised of various tracks recorded between 2004 and 2007, appeared in 2007 while Anastasio was doing time at a court-ordered drug rehab program. The unified Time Turns Elastic, which paired the guitarist with Don Hart, was released in 2009. TAB at the Tab, a live album with the traditional four-piece expanded to a septet to include additional horns, was recorded at Atlanta's famed Tabernacle theater and released in 2010. After touring with Phish for almost two years, Anastasio returned to the studio and emerged with Traveler. ~ Jesse Jarnow & Steve Leggett, Rovi

Better and better with each tour he plays!! And with Fishman being an absolute monster the past year, it makes Trey Anti-pasto even better! So glad that he surrounds himself with the best of the best musicians!

Phish never really totally followed in the Grateful Dead's footsteps, only in that they were classified as a Jam Band, which is what the Grateful Dead did well. As the Dead were influenced by folk music, phish opened the door wide open to just about anything. That, and a huge pool of dedicated fans ready for some new s**t.

If you want to hear the ultimate background music to play while learning how to type (yes I'm computer illiterate), listen to the Drive By Truckers. Two of the less famous musicians from The Band made their way through that group.

The pinnacle of Phish occurred in the middle of the Everglades, on a Seminole Indian Reservation. After their 8 hour; turn of the millennium set- when that sun finally came up- it would never be the same. If you were there at Big Cypress, you know what I mean. However, I've seen them since then, and after Coventry (which was almost a horrible experience) they started getting tighter & tighter and more & more bad-a**. I. E. any of the last couple NYE runs at the Garden, or those two shows at Jone

The man kicks some serious a**. Hope everyone who wants to gets a chance to see him, he won't last forever. Who will take his place? As far as I'm concerned the rest of the jam bands out there are watered down versions of Phish or The GD. Hopefully someone out there is practicing/writing there a** off and we will hear about them soon. Hopefully.

Trey is a visionary musician who's progressive dialog with the audience via his experimental and intentional guitar and stringed instruments empowers the relationship between himself and his audience which is one of the fueling factors behind his popularity. I am glad to see him tying some roots with Phish again. I've seen them twice this summer and the vibe which emanates from them as a unit causes compelling dance. However I have found a great solace in Oysterhead too! That band had such power

5 years ago

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dbryan24

Thank you Trey for the many wonderful memories ... especially 080998 ...

5 years ago

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sjohnson5677

just got my mind blown @ spac 6/20/2010 great show. I love trey and the whole band see ya around in burlington VT

Just saw them last night in Gulf Shores at the Hangout - Genius! Absolutely awesome.

5 years ago

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mclsfes

He is good! I love his music.

5 years ago

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jpkulick

You can all say what you want about TA. Truth is, we all like what we like. But remember, this isn't a person that picked up a guitar and got lucky. He has spent more time studying music etc than any of you will ever spend studying anything. I think he is a musical genius and can tell you that if any of you attended a Phish concert, your negative opinions would be changed forever...This is guaranteed.

YOU ALL HAVE WAY TO MUCH TIME ON YOUR HANDS, GO GET JOBS JACKASSES!!
AND HEY TSAR PUMPERNICKEL IDIOT, YOU SUCK DONGS CAUSE HIPPIE MUSIC IS FROM THE HEART AND SOUL OF AMERICA A** WIPE!! STAY WHERE YOUR A** IS!!!

sieg:
Are you one of those people who corrects everyone's grammar at parties or get togethers so you can appear more important? It's Pandora...not Rolling Stone....get over yourself. Let me guess, you are an artist, or maybe a journalist wanna be? In that case get used to saying "Do you want fries with that".

To the writer: please do not put the words "a myriad of" together. Look up the word "myriad." It is an adjective, not a noun, and is not to be preceded by "a" or followed by "of." I appreciate the info, but not the incorrect usage.